What to include when splitting bills

niknaksky

So my partner and I are trying to sort out splitting the bills.
I have decided to split based on income so I will be paying 70% but I don't know if I should be including her tax credits in her income.
We have 3 kids 1 is my bio and the other 2 are my step kids which I treat as my own.
She doesn't receive any money from the step kids father so we pay for them together.
Also, I don't know if to add the dog food and dog insurance to the list of bills.
I came into the relationship with 2 dogs and she came with 2 kids.
It feels fair to ask her to contribute to them but not sure.

x_raphael_xx

The way me and the bf split the bills is, he pays for his things (his car, phone etc) I pay for my things (my phone, PT etc)
Everything we 'share' is 50/50, regardless of our income. Apart from the electricity, I pay that 2/3rds as I have a lot of exotic pets (heat lamps etc) and we use like 300% more electricity than our neighbours 

Personally, and especially as the bio-dad isn't contributing, I would lump all the kids together as a joint 'bill', as you care for them all together.
With the dogs, I would say it depends if she views the dogs as part of the family, or as your dogs. I pay for my pets, as they are my sole responsibility. But we both share the dog bills, as he is ours together.

WYSPECIAL

You claim tax credits as a couple so I would say they should be included if you have decided to split bills based on income.